UNION PACIFIC TRAIN ACCIDENTS

Office of Railroad Safety

DCA 97 MR 002
Collision/Derailment
Union Pacific Railroad
Delia, Kansas
July 2, 1997

Synopsis

About 2:15 a.m., central daylight time, on July 2, 1997, Union Pacific (UP) westbound freight train MKSNP-01 struck the side of UP eastbound freight train ZSEME-29. The collision occurred near Delia, Kansas, at the west end of Kenefick siding, milepost (MP) 85.5, where the main line and the siding merge. Each train was manned by an engineer and a conductor. The engineer on the westbound train was killed, and the conductor sustained minor injuries. No other injuries were reported.

Train MKSNP-01 consisted of 2 diesel locomotive units, 39 loaded cars, and 51 empties. The train weighed 5,347 tons and was 6,234 feet long. The conductor testified that the train departed Kansas City, Kansas, at 10:10 p.m., picked up 25 cars at Bonner Springs, Kansas and proceeded to Topeka, Kansas, without incident. At West Menoken (MP 76.0), the conductor said he went into the toilet, which is in the nose of the locomotive. He said he was there when the train entered the siding at the east end of Kenefick (MP 82.9). He remained in the toilet while the train traversed the entire length of the siding (about 2½ miles). He stated that as he came out of the toilet he heard the train go into emergency braking. The train failed to stop at the stop signal at the west end of the Kenefick siding and entered the route of train ZSEME-29.

Train ZSEME-29 consisted of 5 diesel locomotive units and 38 loaded cars. The train weighed 3,925 tons and was 5,644 feet long. It departed Marysville, Kansas, at 12:30 a.m. and proceeded without incident to Kenefick siding. They saw a westbound train with illuminated ditch lights and a bright headlight. They stated that a clear signal (green) was being displayed for their train at the west end of Kenefick siding interlocking; the signal indicated that the route was lined for their train through the interlocking. The engineer stated that he and the conductor tried several times to contact the crewmembers of the other train to ask them to dim their lights, but they received no response. The engineer said that he began to sound his horn about ¾ of a mile from a farmer’s (private) road crossing. He also said that he turned on the ditch lights and switched the headlight to bright. He said he was relieved when he was about 4 to 8 car lengths from the crossing because the westbound train dimmed its headlights and extinguished its ditch lights. He said he passed by the westbound train at 70 mph. He said that he thought the westbound train was moving between 1 and 2 mph. He stated that he tried to look into the cab but could not see anyone. He said he looked back at the signal for the westbound train and it was red (a stop signal). He said that shortly after passing the train, his train went into emergency braking.

The lead locomotive of the westbound train struck the sixth car on the eastbound train. Fifteen cars from the eastbound train and two locomotives and three cars from the westbound train were derailed. Following the collision, a fire caused by the punctured locomotive fuel tanks and automobiles on the eastbound train, engulfed the derailed cars and locomotives. Because five of the derailed cars contained hazardous materials, 1500 people were evacuated.

Injuries to Persons

INJURY TABLE

Injury Type	Train Crew on MKSNP-01	Train Crew on ZSEME-29	Others	TOTAL
FATAL	1	0	0	1
SERIOUS	0	0	0	0
MINOR	1	0	0	1
TOTAL	2	0	0	2

Damage

According to the UP, damages exceeded $5 million.

Issues

The potential major safety issues emerging from the investigation of this accident are:

• Fatigue of the engineer on the westbound train MKSNP-01;

• The effectiveness of the Union Pacific fatigue education program;

• Alerters on Locomotives

• Engineers being left alone on locomotives without speed control, alerters, or a Positive Train Control System (PTC).

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